DISCUSSIONS on “Rules for online games in HoMM3 and formulas for calculating player rating.”

First of all, I want to say thank you that we've finally started discussing/criticizing the ranked game rules :) . I haven't been very fond of them lately and many things need to be changed, so your opinions are very important, as we will be changing them slightly in the near future.
I'll express my thoughts on the proposals put forward:

1) If you've captured the wings - then use them as you wish, without building the level 5 guild

Yes, I agree that Pandora's magic is not harder to obtain than capturing the wings, BUT you answered exactly what I wanted to write on this matter yourself:

since when taking Pandora you also need to level up wisdom, and rarely does anyone take it immediately on the second [week]

That is, in the early stages of the game, rarely anyone levels wisdom, and few will specifically level it hoping that some Pandora will grant DD or flight. And even if they do, they will sacrifice a free slot for this, which would be better suited for earth or other more useful skills in the first weeks; moreover, it's not certain that you'll find high magic in any of the Pandoras.

As for the scrolls - I completely agree, but the limitation needs to be even stricter; besides the built guild, introduce a rule that they cannot be used before the 4th week (otherwise, you find flight on the first day of the game - and immediately start building the guild in the secondary [town] (since we already know that guaranteed control awaits us, so you can avoid building troops altogether and put all resources into the guild), you get a bit lucky with resources - and you have flight at the beginning of the second week, after which you fly around almost without an army and grab artifacts and Pandoras with magic and troops for free, which normally could only be taken on the third to fifth week, and then on the 7th day you fly over the GO and take the empty castle of a stunned opponent - is that fair ???

To build the 5th level tower in the first week, even at the expense of troop development, you would have to be mega lucky with resources, and even if you are, you won't fly for long with one flight, no troops, and no mana:)
But I am not against adjusting the rules based on this proposal if the majority are "for". That is, on this point, I am neutral.

2) Prohibit specialists in a certain magic from using 4th level magic of that type against an opponent (against the computer in battle - allowed) without building the corresponding level of magic in the town's guild

Here I agree with Dreamcatcher: wizards are already complete losers on random maps, and now they want to take away their last hope. What can poor Solmir do with his only custom chain at 110? On random maps, wells are very rare things; you're not going to run back to the castle constantly to refill mana, then run to the hard-to-break guard to cast chain, and then back to the castle to refill mana again?
In our recent game, I just got lucky with artifacts and stocked Solmir with enough mana for three chains to thin out your troops, and then attacked with the main force. And what? I sacrifice a hero, and consequently, money. What else could I have done against a Necromancer on the sunny map? Well, you took a hit from the chain? Did that strongly affect the outcome of the game? But I would cut the Necromancers down :rolleyes:

3) I believe that visiting the refugee camp and buying troops there should be allowed

I've been thinking about this for a long time and I think I'll cast my vote "for" allowing the use of mercenary camps. Indeed, the guard at this object is serious, and you buy them with your own hard-earned money just like from a dwelling. True, besides the guard, you also need to take the dwelling, but as a rule, the guard of the dwelling is harder to break than the hideout itself. And if the hideout is your own, it's much better than a camp.

4) I believe that Necromancers should be prohibited from upgrading vamps, building the magic enhancer, and choosing a hero at the start (the hero should be random)

An old and sore subject :). I'll probably agree with all of it, because after the last game with a good player ;) I realized how cheaty this race is even without the vamp upgrade and Galtran. A game that was 90% won was lost without a chance, because a Necromancer with flight and DD is simply unkillable.
I propose the following:
1. starting hero is random
2. prohibit vamp upgrade, but the necromancy enhancer can be built (so it's not exactly like on other resources ;))
3. Specialists in necromancy can be leveled, but prohibit upgrading sorcery to "expert" level. There are already too many banned heroes for Necromancers, and in my recent game with vbn I won because he didn't get a single allowed necromancer in two weeks and only started leveling his "papa" from the 3rd week. I suggest also allowing Tanta, but he can only be used with the third tower built. I don't know how to check at a glance if the opponent used resurrection without the 3rd tower, but a detailed analysis of saves could reveal it. Necromancers almost always get resurrection. These conditions will be in effect only if the first point is met, i.e., if the starting hero is random.

I suggest considering one more rule point:
If a player has at least 2 identical castles,
then troops above level 2 are allowed to be bought only in the first of the castles.

+1

I would also like to do something about the week of some native monster and the month of plague. I am against both the first and the second, meaning I propose to introduce mandatory loading of the autosave until there is a neutral week/month.
At first glance, it seems that a week of, for example, minotaurs wouldn't make much difference. But on the other hand, if you build minotaurs, and on top of that it's minotaur week (+7), and God forbid their hideout is there, and you build a portal, then 29 minotaurs on the second week will kill anyone. And the month of plague needs no comment.